tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post1438871494955183791..comments2016-12-07T23:39:30.235-05:00Comments on The Historical Society: The Meaning of “When”Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-57695447095639834972012-12-12T07:53:18.822-05:002012-12-12T07:53:18.822-05:00I love Aaron&#39;s post and Lisa&#39;s comment. T...I love Aaron&#39;s post and Lisa&#39;s comment. The &quot;when&quot; in history can become an obsession. I see it especially around technology: &quot;when&quot; something was invented is a source of pride, market power, and controversy. Was it when the idea was first conceived, patented, prototyped, marketed or mass produced? Consequently, the phonograph and sewing machine each have three inventors, the trolley car and telegraph four, the steamboat five, the thermometer six and the telescope no less than nine. Each of these inventors demands a different &quot;when&quot;!Eric Schultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03169391149462048777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-26926470308600735732012-12-12T07:07:26.554-05:002012-12-12T07:07:26.554-05:00First of all, greetings from further south in East...First of all, greetings from further south in East TN, Aaron. I get up to beautiful Maryville from time to time (Chattanooga is only 2 hours away) and will definitely look you up the next time I&#39;m on your campus.<br /><br />Second, I love your conclusion that &quot;when&quot; is when historians say it is. If we can make a strong enough case. My students seem obsessed by this question--what years were the Industrial Revolution exactly? When did the Reformation begin and end? I invite some of this by talking about periodization (I study the &quot;early modern&quot; world, so I have to explain that.)<br /><br />My own quirky foray into public history was fraught with this same issue--my husband and I put together a history of our neighborhood here in Chattanooga. All the community information, banners, signage, etc say we were founded in 1863. Since this was the middle of the Civil War here in Chattanooga and there were no houses built yet in this part of the city (we are at the foot of Missionary Ridge and so in the middle of the fighting, literally), I am confused as to why we choose that arbitrary date. I just chose to let it lie--neither challenging it, nor dealing with the date in any overt way in my own writing. It would be too upsetting to say &quot;there&#39;s no historical reason why we should choose that date for the &#39;founding&#39; of our neighborhood.&quot;<br /><br />Sometimes the consequences are more weighty than other times and part of being a historian is knowing the difference.... ELisa Clark Dillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00155783885263417225noreply@blogger.com